By Dipo Olowookere
The stock market in Nigeria depreciated by 0.06 per cent and this was buoyed by selloffs in the banking and consumer goods sectors.
Business Post reports that the banking counter lost 0.44 per cent, while the consumer goods space went down by 0.08 per cent, with the insurance index rising by 1.17 per cent and the energy and industrial goods counters closing flat.
At the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) dropped 23.08 points to settle at 38,233.68 points in contrast to the previous 38,256.76 points.
Also, the market capitalisation reduced by N12 billion to close at N19.928 trillion compared with N19.940 trillion of the preceding session.
During the midweek session, the trading volume decreased by 18.83 per cent to 203.1 million shares from 250.2 million shares.
However, the trading value rose by 16.99 per cent to N1.8 billion from N1.6 billion, while the number of deals increased by 1.70 per cent to 3,594 deals from 3,534 deals.
Fidelity Bank was the most traded stock yesterday with the sale of 24.4 million shares for N54.3 million, followed by Zenith Bank with the sale of 22.1 million shares for N508.0 million.
Mutual Benefits Assurance exchanged 16.9 million equities for N6.9 million, Sovereign Trust Insurance traded 16.9 million stocks for N4.6 million, while Transcorp transacted 13.8 million shares for N11.7 million.
Despite the loss on Wednesday, the market breadth closed positive with 20 price risers and 14 price decliners, with FTN Cocoa leading the laggards after its share price went down by 7.32 per cent to close at 38 kobo.
NPF Microfinance Bank lost 5.62 per cent to trade at N1.68, Flour Mills declined by 5.25 per cent to N27.95, Japaul went down by 1.75 per cent to 56 kobo, while Wema Bank lost 1.72 per cent to trade at 57 kobo.
John Holt closed staying on top of the gainers’ chart yesterday after its value rose by 9.68 per cent to 68 kobo.
Vitafoam gained 9.19 per cent to trade at N10.10, Lasaco Assurance appreciated by 9.09 per cent to N1.56, C&I Leasing improved by 8.52 per cent to N4.84, while Learn Africa gained 7.84 per cent to quote at N1.10.
